Dr Bibhusal Thapa

Overview

Dr. Bibhusal Thapa graduated medical school from the University of Kathmandu in Nepal in 2002. He went on to complete a three-year residency in General Surgery from the Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2007. In 2011, Dr. Thapa completed a year of training in Thoracic Surgery under the Rowan Nicks Scholarship program of RACS in the field of thoracic surgery at the Austin Hospital. Following this he joined and completed the fellowship of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan in the speciality of Thoracic Surgery in 2015. Having completed his specialty training, Dr. Thapa enrolled in the PhD program at the Olivia Newton John Cancer Research centre in Melbourne. He researched the interplay of genomic aberrations and immune micro-environment in Mesothelioma and completed PhD in 2017. He gained further experience during a further year of fellowship at the University Hospital Geelong.

Dr. Thapa then travelled back to Nepal and headed the Thoracic Surgical Unit of the Manmohan Cardio-thoracic Vascular and Transplantation centre. There, he spearheaded the establishment and teaching of minimally invasive Thoracic Surgery and also other endoscopic procedures like endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS),  airway stenting and airway surgery. Between 2020 and 2021, Dr Thapa completed a year of practice under oversight in the Thoracic Surgery unit of Northern Hospital in fulfillment of requirements for recognition as a specialist from RACS. He was awarded the fellowship of RACS in Feb 2022. He currently works as a fulltime surgeon and heads the Thoracic Surgery Unit of Northern Hospital, Melbourne.

Having worked both in first world and third world scenarios, Dr. Thapa has collected a world of experience and knowledge in the management of both malignant and non-malignant diseases of the chest. Surgical management of lung cancer forms the major interest and bulk of the workload but he maintains keen interest and significant expertise in the management of pleural diseases in general and infections in particular. Airway surgery and management of tracheal pathologies like stenosis and tumours, chest wall tumours and deformities, mediastinal tumours and esophageal pathologies are other areas of his keen interest and proficiency.

Dr. Thapa is a firm believer in shared decision making and likes to put patient interests and wishes front and centre in all treatment decisions. He has a background in both clinical and translational research and had published on various topics pertaining to Thoracic Surgery and Thoracic Oncology over the years. Teaching of medical students and junior doctors is something that Dr. Thapa enjoys and gives high importance to.

Dr. Thapa’s clinical Practice includes;

• Diagnosis, assessment and treatment of lung cancers including minimally invasive anatomical lung resections.
• Diagnosis, assessment and treatment of tumours of the mediastinum, chest wall
• Management of pulmonary metastasis from non-pulmonary primaries
• Management of malignant pleural effusions and pneumothorax
• Chest wall deformities
• Therapeutic bronchoscopy including tracheal dilatations, endobronchial stenting etc